Chapter 3 No.3

Correspondence with Alexandria Lodge, No. 39, Virginia, June, 1784.

The next Washington letter of Masonic import in chronological order is his reply to an invitation to join the brethren of Alexandria Lodge, No. 39, in the celebration of St. John the Baptist's Day, June 24, 1784, to which Washington sent the following reply, accepting the fraternal invitation.

"Mount Vernon, June 19, 1784.[24]

"Dear Sir: With pleasure, I received the invitation of the master and members of Lodge No. 39, to dine with them on the approaching anniversary of St. John the Baptist. If nothing unforeseen at present interferes, I will have the honor of doing it. For the polite and flattering terms in which you have expressed their wishes, you will please accept my thanks."

"With esteem and respect,

"I am, dear sir,

"Your most Ob't serv't

"Wm. Herbert, Esquire."

PLACE OF MEETING OF ALEXANDRIA LODGE, No. 39, ON PENNSYLVANIA REGISTER, ALEXANDRIA VIRGINIA, WHERE GENERAL WASHINGTON ACCEPTED HONORARY MEMBERSHIP, JUNE 24, 1784.

No copy of this invitation nor acceptance, has thus far been found among the Washington papers.

The original of this letter is also said to be among the relics of Alexandria-Washington Lodge, No. 22. As no fac-simile copy was obtainable, an engrossed copy for same was substituted in the collection of Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.

This banquet was held at Wise's tavern[25] and was participated in by Washington, who upon this festive occasion was elected an honorary Member of Lodge No. 39, upon the Pennsylvania register, and thus became a Pennsylvania Freemason, and his name is duly recorded as such upon the minutes of Lodge No. 39.

This fact further contradicts the Anti-Masonic arguments based upon the Snyder letter so extensively used during the years 1826-1833, that Washington never belonged to any Masonic Lodge, after his initiation in the Fredericksburg Lodge in 1752.

The above note as recorded upon the Minutes of Alexandria Lodge, No. 39, shows that Washington was in complete harmony with the Masonic Fraternity; further, that by his acceptance of membership, Washington became a Pennsylvania Mason.

Among the cherished relics in the Alexandria Lodge, there is none more valuable than the Masonic portrait of Brother Washington, which forms the frontispiece of this volume. This was painted from life in pastel, by William Williams, at Philadelphia in 1794.

In the year 1910 a fac-simile of this portrait was made in oil by Miss Fanny M. Burke, an artist of repute, and a great-granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson. This replica made for the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania is the only one ever made of this portrait and shows Brother Washington as a man and Mason, neither heroized nor idealized.[26]

BY JEAN ANTOINE HOUDON, 1785.

Footnotes:

[24] "Washington and his Masonic Compeers," by Sidney Hayden, New York, 1866, p. 104.

[25] John Wise's tavern, in which the above Masonic Banquet was held, is a large three-story brick building still standing on high ground at the northeast corner of Cameron and Fairfax Streets, Alexandria. At that time it had an unobstructed view of the Potomac.

[26] Vide "Abstract of Proceedings of the Proceedings Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, During the Year 1910," pp. 110-117.

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